Petrology

•Petrology: is the branch of geology that studies the origin,

composition, distribution and structure of rocks.

•Rock is a natural substance, a solid aggregates of one or

more minerals

Prepared by
Dr. Omar Ayman Amer
Rocks classified into three categories on the basis of
how they form as following:

•Igneous rocks (rocks form from molten rock)

Granite and basalt are two common and familiar igneous rocks

•Sedimentary rocks (rocks form by surface processes )

•Metamorphic rocks (rocks form from existing rocks
that are changed by pressure and temperature.)
The Rock Cycle
 Igneous Rocks
The Origins of Magma
•When drilled a well deep into the crust, we would
find that Earth temperature rises about 30°C for
every kilometer of depth.
• Below the crust, temperature continues to rise,
but not as rapidly.
• In the asthenosphere (between depths of about
100 to 350 kilometers), the temperature is so high
that rocks melt in certain environments to form
magma.
 Processes that form magma

•Rising Temperature
•a solid melts when it becomes hot enough
•increasing temperature is the least important cause of magma
formation

•Decreasing Pressure

•Rocks forming from minerals.

•Mineral is composed of an ordered array of atoms bonded
together.
•When a mineral melts, the atoms become disordered and move
freely, taking up more space than when they were in the solid
mineral.
•The high pressure prevents the rock from expanding, and it
cannot melt
•Decrease, large volumes of the asthenosphere would melt.
Melting caused by decreasing pressure is called pressure-
release melting.
Addition of Water

A wet rock generally melts at a lower temperature than an

otherwise identical dry rock.

Why?
since the water molecule is polar, that is , a molecule with regions
exhibiting slight negative and positive charges, it can attract charged
particles (ions) of other substances.
when the polar molecules of water attract ions of the surface of rock
crystals, the bonds of the crystals' structure are weakened, thus
requiring a lower temperature to break these bonds.
if water was not involved such rock crystals would require a higher
temperature.
 Environments of magma formation

Magma Production in a Spreading Center

As lithospheric plates separate at a spreading center
Note that:

1. The temperature is high to melt rocks and forming magma

2. The pressure decrease and foaming pressure release melting
3. The ocean add water and increase melting magma

The magma is of lower density than the surrounding rock,

it rises toward the surface form the mid-oceanic ridge
(new oceanic crust).
•Ex. East African rift
Magma Production at a Hot Spot

The places known as hot spots are volcanic regions thought to be fed by
underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding
mantle.

Causes of hot spots

They may be on, near to, or far from tectonic plate boundaries
hotspots are due to mantle plumes that rise as thermal diapirs from the
core–mantle boundary
Magma Production in a Subduction Zone

A subducting plate is covered by oceanic crust, which, in turn, is

saturated with seawater.
As the wet rock dives into the mantle, rising temperature drives
off the water, which ascends into the hot asthenosphere directly
above the sinking plate.
 Characteristics of magma

Temperature

The temperature of magma varies from about 600 to 1400C,

depending on its chemical composition and the depth at which it forms.
Generally, basaltic magma forms at great depth and has a temperature
near the high end of this scale.
Granitic magmas, which form at shallower depths, tend to lie near the
cooler end of the scale.
 Chemical Composition
•The crust consists mainly of eight elements: Silicon, oxygen, aluminum,
iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium
•Silicon and oxygen two most abundant elements in the crust and
mantle
•Granitic magma rich in silicon, potassium and sodium so the granitic
magmas (silicate magmas) are common in the crust
•Basaltic magma rich in iron and magnesium
•A few rare magmas are of carbonate composition. The rocks that form
from these are called carbonatites and contain carbonate minerals such
as calcite and dolomite.
 Behavior
1. Silicate rock melts to forms magma
2. Magma expands by about 10 percent than the rock
3. . The magma is lower density than the rock around it, so magma
rises in the atmosphere.
4. When magma rises, it enters the cooler, lower-pressure environment
near the Earth’s surface. So it solidifies to form solid igneous rock
Crystallization and magma evolution
The first two minerals to form from a cooling magma are olivine and
pyroxene. Both of these minerals contain Mg, Fe, Si and O. As we
discussed earlier, the Earth's crust is mostly composed of only 8
elements. Four of them combine to form olivine and pyroxene. As olivine
and pyroxene crystallize, the relative percentage of Mg and Fe drop in
the remaining magma because they are being removed by the minerals
as they settle out of the melt. Simultaneously, the relative concentrations
of Ca, Na, K and Al in the magma increase as olivine and pyroxene form
so plagioclase mineral start to forming